History MediumAwareness / ComicBooks

--->""Eggman"": That's more like it! Authorize all automated defenses! Don't bother with the hedgehog!\\
""Snively"": Excuse me, Sir... But... Don't aim at Sonic?\\
""Eggman""You heard me! You'd never hit him anyway. Shoot down the rest!

* ''ComicBook/GorskyAndButch'', a SaltAndPepper pair of policemen looking for the sense of their comic, often use this trope. On one occasion they found the plot of the comic scribbled on the wall of the authors' flat. Later, when asked why he hadn't simply read the ending to solve the case, Gorsky responded that he couldn't see it because his speech bubble was in the way.

--->'''Head Scientist, holding up an invention''': IT'S FINISHED! I think? It's hard to tell, since we skipped all those pages that would've shown me building it.

* In ''ComicBook/InvestiGators'' with characters frequently acknowledging pages as time passes. Such as this example when the General Inspector calls the Gators into his office in ''Volume One'':
--->'''General Inspector''': Approximately eighteen pages ago, an explosion rocked the Science Factory down on Electric Avenue! [Looks down at his watch] GOOD GOLLY, Eighteen pages! Has it really been that long?
** Another example in ''Braver and Boulder'' where they're going through fifty possible names of Red Mobster's nightclub exclaiming that it would take hours.
--->'''Mango''': Has it really been hours? Feels like just the next page.
** There's also a moment in ''Take the Plunge'' where Brash proceeds to skip a montage.

* The characters in the ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'' books know that they are in a series of comic books. Scott will often tell another character to read a previous volume when they express confusion about something that happened earlier, and at one point Envy comments that an event has lasted for "a quarter of this book." Scott is also able to read the captions with characters' names and ages, reminding everyone that Ramona's age is "unknown" and reading Knives' caption to learn that she turned 18.

* One of EmilkaSza stories has character check are all the elements of the comic book (speach bubbles, panels etc.) start working before they can start the story.

* In ''ComicBook/PeterCannonThunderbolt2019'', Baba Yaga describes the powers displayed by Cannon and Thunderbolt (two versions of the same character) as "Formalism", which usually means analyzing an artwork in terms of its medium and format rather than its plot or content — and indeed, both of them do seem to be quite GenreSavvy, at the very least. In fact, while Thunderbolt has effectively absolute power within his personal fortress, because he is a RealityWarper there, Cannon seems to be more medium-aware, transporting himself and five other heroes to Thunderbolt's home by placing them on six panels of the nine-panel page layout that the comic uses by default, and eventually defeating Thunderbolt by manipulating aspects of the medium.

* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}, of the ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'':
** He can ''see'' the yellow text boxes that indicate scene transitions ("Meanwhile, in Manhattan...") or that act as substitute thought bubbles. This is connected to the fact that for Deadpool, there is NoFourthWall. Indeed, the Deadpool comics became so famous for this that the dual sublines for the comic were "The Merc with a Mouth" and "Breaking down the fourth wall one brick at a time!"
** Earlier Deadpool books toyed with this; he didn't actually have any ''proof'' that he was in a comic book (because, let's face it, he can't perceive the reader no matter how much he tries to look outside the page) but kept up the act anyway because he believed it was true (and [[RuleOfFunny it was funny]]). This detail has since been dropped for simplicity.
** At one point, numerous characters tell him he is saying aloud everything that was in the yellow boxes, which leads him to suspect his "internal monologue" is broken. No one listens or responds to what he says, because he is known to be completely insane.
** This gag has extended to other media including Deadpool: in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'', he can beat his opponent around the head with his own life bar, and his [[Film/{{Deadpool2016}} movie]] continues the tradition (see below).
* Gwendolyn Poole, aka Comicbook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool, is a Creator/{{Marvel}} fan who originally hails from our reality and is aware she's now in a comic book. She constantly makes note of standard comic book tropes and conventions and even when [[spoiler:she briefly returns to the "real" world, she can still tell she's in a comic book because she slowly awakens as a RealityWarper, being able to see her own dialogue boxes and interact with panel borders. Her younger brother Teddy is also aware that they reside in a comic book universe, but his lack of comics knowledge means he's never able to make use of it and would rather return to the real world.]] As a side note, she actually isn't a fan of the above Deadpool (and vice versa).
* The {{Marvel|Universe}} series ''The Sensational ComicBook/SheHulk'' is famous for its characters' acknowledgement of the comic medium, including climbing across panel borders, referencing captions, and other related awareness.
** When she gained her sidekick Weezi, Shulkie asked how Weezi was able to walk between comic panels, only to be told that it's similar to the way She-Hulk is able to talk to the reader.
*** It's also because Weezi is an ex-comic heroine herself (from Marvel's predecessor in the 1940s), who used the same schtick in her series. Weezi is so GenreSavvy that she was aware that she and her (late) husband began aging in "real time" because they were no longer appearing regularly in published stories, and thus deliberately insinuated herself into Shulkie's life (and then-new series).
** In one issue, the book's editor, Renee, kidnapped Creator/JohnByrne and locked him BoundAndGagged in a closet so she and She-Hulk could find a new writer for the book. The issue ended with She-Hulk [[SelfDeprecation accidentally killing Byrne]].
** Parodied in an issue of ''ComicBook/DamageControl'', which made She-Hulk ''look like a lunatic who thinks she's a comic book character''. Then again, she directly responded to the text captions pointing this out, so... Does that make it a subverted parody?
** And in Marvel's short-lived ''Heroes for Hire'' series, Shulkie regularly got into arguments with the third-person narrator... until she fired him.
** In ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'', She-Hulk has special dialogue with Deadpool [[LampshadeHanging where she mentions how popular she was in the early 90's, as well as her own habit of breaking the fourth wall]]. In another quote, she threatens to kick Deadpool's butt should there ever be a ''Marvel Vs. Capcom 4''.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** ComicBook/TheJoker can interact with speech and thought bubbles, grabbing hold of or leaning on them. This is most likely part of the idea - also used to partially explain Deadpool - that Joker is so insane that he has become aware of things other characters have not.
** There is a theory floating around that the Joker has become so aware of his role in a comic book that the reason he has yet to kill Batman is because he knows that, if the hero of the book dies, the story and everything in it - villain most definitely included - stops existing. Similarly, some have speculated that the reason he can be so casual about the gruesome crimes he commits is because he realizes the people he's hurting aren't real.
** So did Harley, once. [[RuleOfFunny Though she was (mostly) sane at the time...]]
** In [[Film/Batman1989 the movie]], he talked to himself a few times, serving the same narrative purpose, but preserving the [[SeriousBusiness seriousness]]. On the other hand, he sometimes did so while looking straight-ahead, 'coincidentally' right at the camera, sooo...
** In ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'', thanks to a single point-of-view shot, the Joker is the only one in the films to look right into the camera.
** In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', Joker briefly grinned into the camera and said "Admit it, you can't look away."
** While all of the Game Over screens in the Arkham series are variations of the relevant villain taunting you, Origins features one where the Joker asks if he killed your friend. And then apologizes.
* A throw-away villain in a ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' story arc during the ''ComicBook/BrandNewDay'' storyline (Amazing 557) featured a rather bizarre manifestation of this trope, including the ability to attack our hero through between panels, declaring itself to be 'beyond time.' Holding his scythe to one side would rip through the panel and jab at Spidey's head on the previous page.
* ComicBook/AmbushBug can interact with his writers and editors, walk between pages and panels of his book, and comment on the lives of other characters from an "out of universe" perspective. One time ComicBook/{{Zatanna}} tries to cast a spell on him, and he asks why the words in her speech balloons are backwards. She bursts into tears.
* While playing {{Sidekick}} to [[ComicBook/CaptainMarVell Captain Marvel]], who possessed "[[PsychicPowers Cosmic Awareness]]," Rick Jones came to develop "[[{{Pun}} Comics Awareness]]," in addition to his usual GenreSavvy.

* Like everything regarding her, ComicBook/SquirrelGirl is a goofy example of this trope. While she never breaks the fourth wall during the issues themselves, she does it during the first pages of every issue she's starred in. Now that isn't that unique since [[DependingOnTheWriter lots of characters]] break the fourth wall during the recap pages, but she {{justifie|dTrope}}s it by stating that she is only allowed to break the fourth wall during the recap pages. Some of her first pages breaking the fourth wall issues has direct importance towards the plot of said issue. And to make all this even more confusing, her pets Monkey Joe and Tippy-Toe [[NoFourthWall don't know the meaning]] of The Fourth Wall.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** At times, especially during [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks the Silver Age]], Superman and ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} appeared to be aware of the Fourth Wall; Superman's trademark wink was always directed at the reader/audience. It was used for the last time (in the comics), and most depressingly, in ''ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow?''. In ''Superman'' #714, the last issue before the 2011 relaunch, the final panel gives a nod to ''Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?''.
** Supergirl also occasionally winked at the audience -the first time, in ''ComicBook/ActionComics'' #260-, or even addressed to the readers. In elseworlds story ''Superman Vol 1 #192: "Clark Kent's Super-Son!"'', Clark Kent has lost his powers and forgotten he is Superman. Supergirl and Batman agree to not reveal anything because, well, ''the story would be over''.
--->'''Batman:''' "Psst, Supergirl! We're the only ones here who are aware that Clark Kent is Superman!"\\
'''Supergirl:''' "Of course, Batman, but we agreed that we'd never reveal the truth to Clark because... ''(dramatic pause)'' because you see, readers, that would ruin this imaginary story! So we're keeping mum and minding our own business! Let the writer and editor solve this super-mess they got Clark into!"\\
'''Batman:''' "Check! As Supergirl said, we're sitting this story out!"
** Earth-3 ComicBook/LexLuthor Jr. became aware of the real world, threatening 'us' on ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''.
** Superboy-Prime is ''from our real world,'' and has gone so far as to blame Creator/DCComics for ruining his life, because they wrote the comic books where he's become a villain--''and'' his friends and family read them. ''That's'' trippy.
** In the ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}} (2018)'' series, Superboy-Prime returns after a 9-year absence, and he rights away addresses the readers, saying he can't believe they're still reading DC Comics after the 2011 reboot and endless string of subsequent Crisis and events.
--->'''Superboy-Prime:''' "I see you, too. After everything they've done... I can't believe you're all still here."
** DC canon being what it is, it's hard to know if it counts ''now,'' but at ''ComicBook/SupermanReborn'', Mr. Mxyzptlk turns out to know that he's in a comic book (and ''many'' other media. Apparently, all print, animated, and live versions of him are one guy who likes to hop around the multiverse and present himself a little differently in each. Of course, it stops being funny if [[FridgeHorror you consider]] the versions in which he's a very far cry from the usual harmless trickster.)
* ComicBook/AnimalMan becomes aware of his status as a comic book character and discusses this in a conversation with his writer towards the end of Creator/GrantMorrison's run on the series.
** In an issue of Grant Morrison's run on JLA, Martian Manhunter seeks Animal Man out for some plot related reasons. AM is hiding out in an empty white room spiralling into depression over his 4th wall awareness and when he realizes why J'Onn is there he breaks down in despair and screams "Oh God I'm relevant to the plot!" and just starts sobbing. After J'Onn reads his mind and leave J'Onn thinks to himself that AM has some very odd ideas about how the universe works.

* A rare in-universe ''in-universe'' example: the French absurdist comicbook series ''Philémon'' is centered around the idea that labels on maps are actual geographical features, strange lands filled with absurd illogic. The letters that spell out "ATLANTIC OCEAN" are recurring locations in that series, where they're actual islands located in the Atlantic.
* In the ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' spinoff, ''ComicBook/JackOfFables'', the title character Jack has been shown to be aware of the audience, both in recaps, and normal panels. [[spoiler: This is because he is half-Literal; Literals, are, in essence, "authors" of reality.]]
* The [[MirrorUniverse Crime Syndicate of America]] aren't aware of the fact that they live in a comic book, but do realize that some [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality unseen entity]] is ''constantly'' [[TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin preventing them from triumphing over]] the ComicBook/JusticeLeague.
* ''Marvel Universe'' villainess called The Goddess once gained cosmic power in ''ComicBook/TheInfinityCrusade''. One of the realities she planned to destroy was the real world, presented as a person reading one of the 'Crusade' issues. Later, the 'real' world is seen bursting into flames but it proves only to be a telepathic illusion.

* In the 100th issue of Marvel Comics ''ComicBook/WhatIf?'' (subtitled "Greatest Secret Of The Marvel Universe Revealed"),the first story titled Paper Skin shows that realities Gambit is tasked by Mr.Sinister to recover artifacts that will grant Sinister significant power. Rogue ends up discovering what Gambit and Mr.Sinister have been hiding, and in the end is shown sitting [[spoiler:in a pile of X-Men comic books, which Mr.Sinister had been collecting to gain outside knowledge of the events within the X-characters world and lives]].
** In the second story if the issue as well titled "There's No Place Where You Sleep And Keep All Of Your Stuff aka Earth-Fantastic Voyage", though not quite as straight to the throat as the previous, we find Sue Storm in a parody world of both the F4 comic itself and ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', and as this world's variant of the Watcher is instructing Sue to follow the "yellowish" road, he insists she hurry as the story is only ten pages long.
* Delirium of the Endless from ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' seems to be vaguely aware that she is in some kind of story. In chapter five of "Brief Lives" she tells Dream "I did that. What you just did. In the beginning" after Dream makes a strip club bouncer believe something just by telling him. This is a call back to chapter one when she pulled the same trick on a different bouncer. But why would she, a non-ending being who's existed since the dawn of the universe refer to something so recent as "the beginning"? She's talking about the beginning of the story arc.
* The Purple Man is a dark example of this in ''ComicBook/{{Alias}}'', a psychopath with mind-control powers who is fully aware that he's in a comic book. Nobody takes these statements seriously due to his insanity, though. Jessica Jones is simply shown to be baffled when he tries to explain to her that she lives in a comic book.

* ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'''s ComicBook/{{Loki}} knows he is (in) a story, he repeatedly told this to people. The only reason he doesn't break the fourth wall more often seems to be because ''that's not the kind of story he is''. When he wants he can pull stunts like reaching out and giving the reader a flyer (''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' introductory one-shot, it's a teammates and ''readers'' wanted ad).
* In ''[[ComicBook/TheMultiversity Ultra Comics #1]]'', Ultra Comics sees his thought balloons and thinks they make him look dated, so he switches to first person captions.

--->'''López:''' Weird things are starting to happen! It's evident that another Jan comic begins!

** The end of "Werner macht die Grünen blau" (''Oder was?'') tops this even. After seeing the outcome of making Bruno and Helmut drunk, Werner says that he would have loved to see that comic in color. Those early ''Werner'' comics weren't even grayscale, and shading had to be done with hatching before ''Eiskalt!''.